
audiobook
This volume offers a vivid, day‑by‑day account of the Grenadier Guards as they moved from quiet billets in the French Flanders countryside into the grinding reality of trench warfare. Drawing on official reports, personal letters and detailed maps, it places listeners right in the mud‑filled front lines where artillery rattled the earth and soldiers learned the relentless rhythm of duty and rest.
The narrative follows the regiment through the pivotal moments of 1916, beginning with the quiet patrols around Laventie and the careful preparations for the Somme offensive. As the chapters progress, the Guards face the harsh toll of heavy bombardments, gas alerts and fierce fighting at places like Boesinghe and the Broembeek, providing a human glimpse into the courage and camaraderie that sustained them.
Written by a former officer of the regiment and introduced by the Earl of Cavan, the work blends authoritative detail with personal insight, while the accompanying illustrations and maps help listeners visualize each step of the campaign.
Language
en
Duration
~9 hours (575K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Carol Brown, Brian Coe, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net. The book cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain. (This book was created from images of public domain material made available by the University of Toronto Libraries (http://link.library.utoronto.ca/booksonline/).)
Release date
2020-01-22
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1867–1935
A soldier, royal courtier, and memoirist, he moved through the heart of British public life from Queen Victoria's court to the reign of George V. His writing draws on unusually close experience of war, monarchy, and the people who shaped late Victorian and early 20th-century Britain.
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